The Seraph
by AgentZwolf
Summary: When the world was about to be plunged into chaos, god sent his greatest warrior as a means of preventing the world from burning. When a leader of Beacon's greatest team in history passed away at the hands of the Grimm, god gave him a chance to redeem his sins by helping the world as his Seraph. (Prepare yourselves for OC OP-ness, along with OOC of various casts from the show.)
1. Chapter 0

**Hello everyone, Agent Zwolf here. And welcome to another new story by yours truly. This is actually a re-write to another story i made called 'The Silver Lancer', i found a lot of things that could've been better in that story so i decided to completely rework the story and that's how this one came to be.**

 **Disclaimer:** ** _I DO NOT OWN RWBY_**

 **XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

The Seraph

Prologue: Death, is not the end

 _First person POV_

 ** _25 Years before Canon_**

Where did it all go wrong?

We were supposed to go on a mission to a slightly remote village, just another simple patrol mission. Not too exciting, not too boring. Well, not for my team anyway.

I walked down the streets of the village. My team and I were in our final years at Beacon academy. Just another month and a half before we graduate. The people waved at me as I walked proudly with my lance in my hands, resting on my left shoulder, my cape blowing in the wind, sporting an emblem which was a circle with six feathered wings, with each pair at a certain angle. The people were all smiling, the village was a lot more peaceful since me and my team came here. And considering the village was occupied by bandits for the last three days before we arrived, the people were more than grateful for our arrival.

So why?

Why did this happen?

I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard a Grimm roar. I turned to the source of the roar to see a Beowolf in front of a little girl with short blonde hair and green eyes. I grit my teeth and picked up my spear and rushed towards the girl. As I got closer I spun around swinging my spear and decapitated the Grimm before it fell to the ground and dissipated into ash. I turned to the girl, my silver hair and cape blowing in the wind. I could see the girl was in awe, but this is hardly the time for it.

"You can't stay here kid, find a safe place and hide." The girl snapped out of her thoughts and nodded before running off to find somewhere safe.

After seeing her run off, I turn to see someone familiar, she was around 5' 9" tall with long blonde hair almost reaching her waist. She was wearing relatively light armor, though they all share the same color scheme, white and blue with a golden trim. She wielded a broadsword with an armguard shaped like a wing along with a kite shield. She also had wings on her back, indicating she was a Faunus, a half-human, half-animal race. She was slightly shorter than me like everyone else in the team, except for Richard. I rushed over to her and killed the Ursa that was about to strike her from behind.

"Haven't I taught you enough Florina? Always watch your surroundings." The girl known as Florina groaned a bit.

"Hey, lay off. It's my first time fighting a horde this big. We can't all be badasses fighting thousands of Grimm alone y'know." She said in slight annoyance at me while I just shrugged.

"If it's any consolation, you're already badass in your own right. You know you're badass when you get a title." I said with a sheepish grin as I added another Beowolf to my kill count.

"Riiiiiiight. That's great coming from 'The God of War'." She said sarcastically while decapitating yet another Beowolf.

The title was something I got after taking down whole teams single handedly during the Vytal Festival Tournament, leading my team to win twice in a row. Of course, I had to let my team handle the Doubles and singles rounds to avoid everyone thinking they were a bunch of slackers. There were multiple smaller scale tournaments in between the times my team won the Vytal Festival Tournament in which I participated in, thus earning my title.

"Again, if it's any consolation, 'Angel of the Battlefield' sounds pretty cool." Florina was about to say something when my scroll rang, I picked it up and answered the call. "Talk to me." I spoke to the other side of the call.

" _Zwolf, we need your help outside the village. Mary and I saw a kid outside the village about to be attacked by Beowolves. I think I found out why the Grimm attacked_." The voice said before the sound of flesh being cut was heard.

"Just hang on Richard. Florina and I just finished up inside the village, we're coming. We already called for a Bullhead extraction in case things get really messy."

" _Hurry, I don't think we can handle them much longer_." I hung up as Florina walked over to me.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Richard and Mary need our help outside the village. Looks like they found out the source of our problems. Come on." I gestured to move, and Florina nodded before we both ran for the gates.

As we reached the outskirts of the village, we saw two people fighting a horde of Grimm, one of them was a man towering at 6'3" wielding a double-bladed battle axe with a handle two and a half times the length of the axe blades. The man wore a white and blue suit deigned for combat purposes infused with dust as evidenced by the blue light glowing coming from the lines along the suit. The other person was a woman standing at 5'10" wielding a shield that opens up into a bow, firing arrows that can take a Beowolf's head clean off in one hit. She wore light armor with a gauntlet on her left arm stretching from her shoulder to her hand. The two were in front of a child around 3 years old with brown hair and amber eyes. Wasting no time, me and Florina ran over to them and helped them with the Grimm surrounding the so they don't get overwhelmed. When all the Grimm were gone, Richard let out a sigh of relief.

"You really have a knack for dropping in when someone needs you. You know that right?" Richard panted heavily as he tried to keep himself upright with his axe and not collapse from exhaustion.

"I'm guessing you ran out of gas before we got here?" I had a bit of a smug grin on my face.

"Not everyone is born with your kind of aura reserves. So lay off, I'm pooped over here." I then turned to Mary who had an injury on her leg that wasn't healing, meaning she had run out of aura. She was sitting down on the ground next to the little girl her and Richard was protecting earlier.

"How'd you get injured Mary?" I asked her.

"I pushed her out of the way when the Ursa that attacked and it hit my leg." She gestured to the little girl in her arms, who was still a bit scared.

"Heroism is fine and all, but don't get careless. If I worry too much about you out here it'll get us both killed."

"Aww, but I like it when you worry." She pouted at me. Seriously, I can hardly stop myself when she asks me to do something with that face, though I try to refuse.

"Guys, can you not flirt when we have bigger problems?" Richard pointed to a figure in the distance.

The figure was basically the Grimm version of a knight, with bone armor and a black body, it wielded a longsword made from an entire bone. Or at least it looked like it since it looked like one whole item instead of being comprised of parts like how it should be. It had red eyes beneath its eyes, and it looked angry, very angry. The Grimm knight plunged its sword into the ground and a shadow spreads from underneath it, covering a rather wide radius. And from it, a horde of Grimm rose from the ground like a zombie. I knew we were at a disadvantage, so I came up with a plan. Though admittedly it was pretty much suicidal.

"Florina, take Richard, Mary and the kid and evacuate the village. I'll hold them off as long as I can. The bullhead should be here soon. Go!" I ordered them. Everyone was against it, especially Mary.

"But, what about you?" I cut her off.

"I said go!" Florina and Richard nodded before picking up Mary and the kid and ran back to the village. Mary struggled as she insisted on staying but Richard ignored her and ran back as I hear the sound of the bullhead I called for earlier finally arrive. As they left, I turned to the Grimm horde in front of me.

"I only heard stories about you, you're a Grimmlord aren't you? Your ability to create weaker Grimm kinda gave you away." I said to the Grimm knight before going into a stance with my spear at the ready. "I thought Grimmlords were extinct, guess I was wrong. Too bad I have to keep you extinct." A small red glyph appeared on my spear and body at the base of my neck.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

 _Third person POV_

Mary kept thrashing around, trying to make Richard let go. She hot and kicked and flailed, but to no avail as they ran back to the village.

"No! Let me go, we have to go back! Zwolf!" She screamed as the three got back to the village gates. Richard set her down when they reached where the villagers were.

"Will you get a hold of yourself?! Zwolf bought us time to get these villagers to safety. Once they're safe, Florina and I will go back for him. Let's not waste time." His voice progressively got weaker as a single stray tear rolled down his face.

As the bullhead Zwolf called for finally touched down, Richard and Florina went to work on evacuating the villagers onto the bullhead, along with Mary.

"Please, bring him back." Mary pleaded to Richard as she started to cry.

"I'll do what I can." Richard replied unsure if they can get to him in time. He knew Zwolf was strong, but he doubted he can handle that big of a Grimm horde alone. He needed to hurry, and hope that Zwolf can hold the Grimm long enough.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Zwolf panted in exhaustion as he took a look around him. The Grimm horde that was surrounding him several minutes ago, were now a pile of bodies, slowly fading into smoke. The Grimm knight was wounded, without an arm and was using its sword to stay upright. Zwolf was injured as well, running out of aura and was covered in shallow cuts from whenever he barely managed to dodge the Grimm knight's attacks. Like his adversary, Zwolf is using his weapon to stay upright.

"You're one tough son of a bitch aren't you?" Zwolf chuckled as he was panting heavily with a heavy smile on his face. The Grimm knight simply glared at him as he have been the entire fight, but was obviously winded.

"Well, I can't stay here much longer. Mary is probably already crying by now, and a gentle men shouldn't leave a crying girl alone, whether she's your girlfriend or not, and she is." Zwolf kept his smile as he stood up straight and went into a stance, the Grimm knight followed and seemed to agree with him.

A Grimm agreeing with a human, there really is a first time for everything.

"So, let's finish this." Without a moment's hesitation, the two adversaries lunged at each other and swung their respective weapons. Once the two came to a stop, it was a few seconds of silence before the head of the Grimm knight fell off and it slumped down as it faded away into nothing.

Zwolf let out a sigh of relief as he looked down to see a big gash on his abdomen, and since he ran out of aura it'll take a while to heal. He turned and walked back to the village, using his spear as a walking stick, he trudged his way back, leaving a trail of blood behind him. Completely exhausted from his earlier fight, not to mention wounded. He didn't hide his fatigue, he couldn't even if he wanted to, his breathing deepened, his steps slowing by the minutes, until eventually, he couldn't take it anymore. He leaned back against a tree and slid down.

"Sorry guys, I won't be able to walk back on my own. I'm way too tired, I'm just gonna sit here and….. Rest." His eyelids grew heavy, he was losing blood very quickly thanks to the wound the Grimm knight gave him. He then slowly closed his eyes, and let out his last breath. Just as he did, a man shrouded in light walked up to him.

"Your time to rest will come, Zwolf. But that time is not now." The man chuckled before snapping his fingers and just like that….. They were both gone in an instant.

 **XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

 **For those of you who read 'The Silver Lancer', i know i mentioned how Zwolf 'died' 20 years prior, so i took the liberty of explaining it thoroughly in this one. I'm pretty pleased with myself with this one as to how it turned out.**

 **Anyway guys, please follow and favorite this story and don't for get to review if you have any comments or critics as to where i went wrong.**

 **This is Agent Zwolf, signing out~**


	2. Chapter 1: Rebirth

Chapter 1: Rebirth

 _First person POV_

Darkness.

That was all I could see.

It felt cold, and lonely.

Just like when I lost my family.

How long has it been since I felt like this?

My eyes fluttered open as I felt a light shine on me, I looked ahead of me to see a man shrouded in light. The man walked up to me despite lacking a platform, unless it was invisible.

"Who are you?" I asked him.

"My creations call me many things, though 'God' is the one that stuck." The man replied.

"Are you god?" I asked him again.

"Hmm, let's see. I created the world and almost everything in it. You do the math." The man said.

"I honestly didn't think god would be a smartass." I deadpanned and received a chuckle as a response.

"I try to keep myself distinct form others like me." He added.

"Where am I? Is this the afterlife?" I looked around and saw nothing but darkness. "I always thought it'd be….. Brighter."

"No, no. This isn't the afterlife, this is a place I'd like to call 'The Void'. It's a place between the realms of life and death. Lingering spirits usually stay here until they wander to the realm of the living."

"So why am I here? I didn't exactly have many regrets."

"You're not a lingering spirit. I'm keeping you from entering the afterlife because you have much to do." I tilted my head a bit in confusion.

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"I believe I do not need to remind you of the sins you've committed on 'that' day." I lowered my head in shame remembering that day. "Though you have saved many, and did enough good deeds to counter your sins, it is not something so easily forgotten. I'm taking you back, because you are the perfect candidate for what I need you to do. And once you're done, you can enjoy the afterlife with your family and loved ones." I perked up at his words. A bewildered look turns into a determined one.

"What do you need me to do?"

"I'm glad you're on board. Come with me, there is someone I would like you to meet." He snapped his fingers and a flash of light blinded me, forcing me to close and cover my eyes.

As the light subsided, I opened my eyes and saw that I was in front of a fairly large white tree with golden fruits hanging from it. I was in awe at the sight of it, the white bark made it look as if it was made completely out of marble, and the fruits made me wonder if it were solid gold or not. I was snapped out of my thoughts when I felt a gust of wind from behind me, followed by a gruff, deep voice.

"I wonder why every person that has come here is in awe of my tree, it's just a tree." I turned my head to see the source of the voice. Only to see a large dragon 4 time my size, and that's only the head alone.

I was speechless at the mere sight of it, in all my time hunting Grimm – which was 9 years or so – This was the first time I was scared of one before.

"If you were wondering, he's not a Grimm." I snapped my head in the direction towards another voice to see the man shrouded in light walking towards me with his hands behind his back.

"Then what is he?" I asked, turning back to the dragon.

"I am something much more than a Grimm, but you could say the Grimm originated from me." The dragon replied.

"So you're the source of the Grimm?" I asked again.

"No, no, that title belongs to another. The source of the Grimm and the origin of the Grimm are two different things." The dragon scoffed.

"That being said, I think we should move on to more important matters." The man shrouded in light walked over to me.

"Very well then, what did you-" My eyes widened in shock as the man shrouded in light plunged his hand straight through my chest. As he yanked his hand out, I felt as if he took a piece of me. I felt around where he plunged his hand to find that there was no hole, no wound to show. I lifted my head to look at him when I saw what was in his hands, an orb of light in the same color of my aura, which was silver in color.

"This is the first step to redeeming yourself for your sins in the world, I took your semblance away as a reminder of the destruction you have caused in your anger. But we can't have you unprepared if you're going back to keep the world from annihilation, which brings us to our next issue." The orb of light that contained my semblance disappeared in his hands and is replaced with another orb of light, this one had an assortment of colors within it, though all of the colors were tainted to an extent.

"As I have said before, the origin of the Grimm, and the source of the Grimm are two different beings. The source being a woman going by the name of Salem. She had existed for more than 2700 years, and every 900 years, her body dies and her soul goes to find a new host. Though there were supposed to be 3 hosts, there are now 4 due to a certain 'Incident' at Beacon several years ago, I believe you know what we're talking about? Or rather, WHO we're talking about?" The dragon said as Zwolf's mind flashed to an incident in his 2nd year at Beacon which ended with him killing a certain girl who mouthed the words, " _Thank you_ ". He clutched his head at the painful memory as he started to Hyperventilate.

"Yeah, yeah, I remember." He said as he calmed down a bit while controlling his breathing.

"All of her chosen hosts have had their souls tainted from contact with her. Their souls are replaced with her own, and thus their semblance are thrown aside in place of the dark power Salem holds. She grows stronger with each host body she possesses. This orb of light is the collective power of the souls of Salem's hosts' that have been thrown aside due to her possession. We are giving it to you now so that you will be able to fight her on equal terms with the very powers she has corrupted and thrown aside." The man shrouded in light walked a bit closer to me.

"Very well, I will use this power to end her."

"Good man." The man shrouded in light plunged his hand into my chest again. This time, instead of taking away something, he was giving me something, I knew it was the collective semblances of the 4 hosts Salem has occupied, but what's strange is that it did not feel foreign, it was like being around your family after not seeing them for so long, I didn't know why.

As the power fully merged with my body, the man shrouded in light yanked his arm back out. I looked around my body for any changed, but there was nothing wrong. I had forgotten to ask what were the four Semblances that were inside that orb, so I perked my head up.

"I forgot to ask what the four semblances were. Y'know, just so I know what I'll be working with."

"Ah, yes of course. I almost forgot. The four semblances include, the ability to bend nature – trees, plants and the like – to your will; Psychokinesis which I am sure you are familiar with; the ability to give others the illusion of pain; and finally, Enhancement which I will let you figure out what it does." I put my hand on my chin to think about what I was just told, I was indeed familiar with **Psychokinesis** as it was Sylvia's semblance, the ability to bend nature to my will – which I will call **Demeter's will** – is a very versatile semblance, capable of being used anywhere with plant life, then there's **The Illusion of Pain** which is a very terrifying semblance when used properly, and finally there was **Enhancement** , his mind raced at the possibilities of such a semblance. I was the kind of person who thought out of the box almost every time, which allowed me to think of crazy ideas that would almost always work in the end, it also helped me see the potential of other people's semblances, no matter how feeble it may seem to be.

"I understand believe I have grasped at least one of my new abilities. But if you want me to do this, I can't go it alone. I may be strong, but I'm not immortal." I asked the man shrouded in light.

"Ah, yes quite. I knew you would say that. Which is why you will be recruiting 9 other people. Tell me Zwolf, what do you know of angels?"

"Angels? Well, from what I've read they are beings of light, and there are 9 ranks to angels. It's not exactly a common topic back home."

"I see. Well, you are right Zwolf. There are 9 ranks to angels. You will search for people to fill one of each rank, except for the 'Seraph' rank, as it will be your rank. I need you to find, the 'Cherubim', 'Throne', 'Dominion', 'Virtue', 'Power', 'Principality', 'Archangel', 'Angel', and finally, 'Fallen Angel'."

"Fallen angel? There's a tenth rank?" I was slightly shocked at this revelation.

"It is only reserved for Angels who have been corrupted. Thankfully there have only been one so far in the history of the universe." I let out a sigh he didn't know I was holding.

"So I take it I'll have to round up the other 9 ranks?"

"Not immediately, some of them will not even be born yet for another decade and a half. Besides, you will be busy training with your new power, and learning the necessary things for your mission. Can't have you in the dark now would we?"

"I hope I won't be working with Ozpin, he tends to keep a lot of secrets. Most of which I have to find out for myself."

"Of course not. In fact, I hope you can avoid anyone you knew who isn't a part of this. For now, you should hone your skills with your new semblances and I will fill you in on what you want, and what you need to know. Your comrades won't be ready until 13 years from now." The man shrouded in light snapped his fingers and a portal opens.

"This portal will lead you to the Void. Time there moves very slowly, so you will have all the time you will need to hone your newfound skills. Which reminds me, you will need a weapon. I left your family heirloom back there so that your friends won't waste their time looking for you." I then started to wonder of what I wanted to use as my new weapon, I was familiar with many traditional weapons, such as swords, axes, spears, etc. But I was never a fan of firearms as they lacked the excitement using a traditional weapon would bring in combat, at least in my opinion anyway.

My thoughts slowly drift to my friends and their weapons. Florina uses a sword and shield, the blade of her sword can open up into a railgun, I disregarded that option, since I never used a shield, and I never used a mecha-shift weapon; Richard uses a double-bladed axe that can turn into a spear, or a trident, it can also be used as a single shot, sniper rifle, I disregarded that option for the same reason. Mary uses two shields mounted on her lower arms that open up into a bow, her arrows are all dust infused. Again, I'm disregarding this because though I have experienced using a bow, I never used a shield. Then finally, there was Sylvia, her weapons were basically two short swords with the hilt as long as the blades, they have a rolled up chain hidden within the hilt that is connected to the base of the blade, allowing it to be used in different ways, a whip is simply one of its many uses. After figuring out what I want as a weapon. I turned back to the man shrouded in light.

"I've decided on a weapon." I said to him.

"What did you have in mind?"

"I want two short swords, with the hilts as long as the blade, along with a chain hidden beneath the hilt that is attached to the blade." I explained the details of my would-be weapon to him.

"I see, so you want it be like Sylvia's weapon?"

"It's much easier to use since I have actual experience using it. Being the one who helped make it also helps." I had a small smirk on my face.

"Very well." He pulled out his hand a closed his eyes. Then, a bright flash came from it. As the light dissipated, it revealed the weapon I asked for, down to the finest details. Though I was curious about the color.

"Why is it black?" I asked.

"It's made from Obsidian. On its own it is a very strong material, but here on Remnant it can cut through aura like a hot knife through butter." I slightly winced at the description of the material used to crafting the weapon. Obsidian isn't an abundant resource on Remnant, and whenever someone does find Obsidian, it's not enough to make a weapon.

"I better make sure I don't accidentally kill someone with it." I said as I grabbed the weapon from him and examined it. The weapon was very well made. Usually, anything made with Obsidian is very heavy, even the smallest of items were about 5 times as heavy as any other items made with any other material. And yet, the weapon I held in my hands were only as heavy as the only other weapon I used.

"Now come on, I'm sure you have a lot of questions." The man said as he gestured to the portal that led to the Void. I smiled a bit as I followed him through. But not until a thought crossed my mind.

I wonder who I'll be working with?


	3. Chapter 2: Recruitment

Chapter 2: Recruitment

 ** _12 Years before Canon_**

It's been 13 years since god has chosen me to save the world from extinction, and yet I am still here in this void training with my new powers and weapons. Fighting against the Grimm the Dragon creates with its blood, they are surely stronger than the regular Grimm I faced before, even the Grimm knight I faced before my untimely death pales in comparison to the Dragon's Grimm. It's a good thing I'm already dead though, or else I would've had another one-way ticket to the afterlife on day one.

Whenever I'm not fighting the Dragon's Grimm – which I will call 'Omega Grimm' now – I often ask god on the secrets of the world, to which he would always answer without fail. Either that or I my friends through a vision mirror god had generously given me for my free time. I'm glad Glynda and Ozpin got together, though I'm a bit confused as to why they want to keep the relationship hidden from everyone, and if anyone says they're doing it to not affect their professionalism, then I call bullshit.

My team has been doing…. Well? I guess? Florina had rebuilt my old family home and used the surrounding town as a Faunus-only settlement. Richard and Mary on the other hand… Well, at least they have kids, so that's a plus for them. You can forgive me for being overly concerned about Mary since we were dating when I died, but she's not entirely happy about her marriage. In fact, the only thing she's happy about in her life right now is her two daughters, one is a prodigy while the other is a talented singer, though the two daughters should keep their attitude in order, their starting to act like Richard before he went to Beacon, which is a pain for anyone.

As for my old friends of team STRQ, they've been doing well, though Qrow could really lay off the booze. Taiyang got married with Raven which is unsurprising given how he flirted with her non-stop back in our Beacon years. What is surprising is that Raven left not long after her daughter was born, and Taiyang re-marrying Summer, now that was a twist. I honestly thought Summer would end up with Qrow give the fact that Qrow was dating Summer in their Beacon years. The web of relationships in team STRQ is a complicated one. Whenever I watched Summer through a vision mirror, she would always turn around to face the direction I was watching from, I wonder if she can sense me? I was brought out of my musings when a portal opened and god stepped into the void.

"It's time to start recruiting." He said with his hands behind him, his usual pose whenever he talks to someone, I can't tell if he's copying me or I'm copying him in the last 13 years.

"About time, I'm getting tired of just watching my friends live their lives without me. It gets boring after 5 years. So, who's going to be my first recruit?" I asked.

"It's one of your friends. Summer Rose, I believe you know about the mission she accepted from Ozpin recently?"

"Ah, the suicide mission. Honestly, I can't tell what that guy is thinking most of the time, sadly I can't exactly listen to what they're saying and I'm forced to watch a soundless movie for the last 13 years." Ozpin had asked Summer to go on a mission out in the badlands, a term used for places outside the towns, outside the kingdoms. I managed to get a peek at the mission file that was on Summer's phone, and the mission was fighting a growing Grimm horde 50 miles out in the badlands. It had 'suicide Mission' written all over it, and she accepted it anyway.

"Well, she's going to die if you don't go there, but you will have to make sure everyone else thinks she's dead." I nodded.

"Alright, how do I make it official?" I asked.

"On your hand is your emblem, the mark of the 'Seraph'. You will put your hand over hers to place the mark on hers, and she will receive a similar emblem depending on her given rank. Summer will be the 'Cherubim', the foresight. Your second-in-command so to speak."

"Alright, so what happens after?"

"You do not have to gather all of the angel ranks just yet. You will only need to gather two more after recruiting the 'Cherubim'."

"Which is?"

"The 'Archangel' and the 'Dominion', the protector and the leader. These will help you find them, look for them after recruiting the 'Cherubim'." Two emblems appear on his hand, one is a depiction of two crescent moons next to each other, while the other is a heart with stitches all over it.

"Very well then, open a portal. Wouldn't want to keep the new recruit waiting." With a flick of his wrist god opened a portal for me and I walked through it.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

 _Third person POV_

Summer was breathing hard as she held her hand on the side of her stomach where she was bleeding. She had just finished her mission that Ozpin gave her. What was a simple extermination mission turned out to be an ambush when someone attacked her out of nowhere with a bow aimed at her. She was too tired to engage, so she ran, but not after getting shot through the side of her stomach with a piercing arrow, causing her to bleed as she ran from her assailant. The assailant had pitch black hair, and amber eyes that was as much as she could see before she ran. She wondered if the assailant was the source of her near constant feeling of being watched.

She have had the feeling watched for the past 13 years come and go, but she hasn't found who was watching her, that feeling disappeared when she started fighting the horde. The feeling was strange, it didn't feel like a stalker or an assassin was following her, it was more like an old friend was watching over her. Her thoughts drifted to Zwolf, they were close friends despite him being a 4th year and her a 1st year. Probably because he had actually made a friend with someone his age. Soon enough Zwolf and his team became close friends with her and her team. Those were happier days, but of course that happiness vanished when Zwolf died, and since he was the connection between team STRQ (Stark), and team ZRFM (Seraphim), the two teams drifted from each other.

She was broken out of her thoughts when another wave of pain came from her wound, she staggered and fell backwards, laying on her back and looking to the starry night sky where snow had just started to fall. She was bleeding out, it was only a matter of time before she died.

" _I'm sorry Tai, Yang, and Ruby. I guess I won't be coming home. I guess that's another broken promise added to the list. On the bright side, I guess I get to see Zwolf again before you guys, heh._ " Tears started flowing from her eyes as she remembered her daughters. Granted, one of them was Raven's daughter, but she still treated her as one of her own.

"Well, Zwolf. I'll guess I'll be joining you soon." She said to no one in particular since she knew no one would be listening as she started to close her eyes. Suddenly she heard a very familiar voice.

"If you're talking about the afterlife then you won't be joining me as soon as you would think." Came a voice behind her.

Summer's eyes snapped open when she saw a recognizable face above her. She smiled as more tears ran down her eyes.

"Come on Summer, crying is really not for a grown woman like you." Zwolf smiled as he looked down on her.

"You're alive." Was all she said before she started crying again.

"And you will too. I didn't come all the way here to see an old friend die on me." He knelt down and placed his hand on hers as it started to glow. When Zwolf pulled back his hand, there was an emblem placed on her hand, it was a circle with 4 wings and 3 spikes pointing inwards. Almost immediately, her wound healed, her aura re-charged and her stamina re-invigorated. She felt as if she never fought a Grimm horde earlier. Her breathing stabilized and she was no longer bleeding.

Summer got up and searched her abdomen for any trace of her wounds, the only remainder of it ever existing is the blood stain on her white cloak. She turned her head to look at Zwolf.

"What did you do?"

"First of all, you're welcome. Second, I just saved your life. Your time is not over yet, Summer."

"How are you still alive right now?"

"I know you have a lot of questions. But now is not the time to answer them. The world needs to believe you died. Now take off your cloak." Her face showed a look of horror when he said those words.

"What?!" She nearly screamed. "Are you crazy? I've had this for almost my whole life. I can't part with it." She started cradling said cloak like a baby.

"Summer, come on. I can easily get you a new one. Besides, it's drenched in blood. Now take it off." He grabbed a part of the cloak which ended up being a game of tug-o-war.

"Nooooooooo, give it back." They pulled on opposite ends of the cloak until suddenly….

It gets a tear.

They both froze, one froze because her lifelong treasure was torn, the other was frozen because of the horrible mistake he has made.

She screamed and lunged at him, what started as an incidental game of tug-o-war, turned into a scuffle. She let out a scream as she attacked the person who tore her cloak, or at least she tried to.

The scuffle made the cloak get even more tears which angered her even more. Eventually they dropped the cloak and took their little scuffle deeper into the forest.

Zwolf was finally able to subdue her when he used **Demeter's Will** , one of his newfound powers. He tied her up by using the branches of a tree to both tie her up and gag her. As Zwolf looked back to where they dropped Summer's cloak, he was greeted with the sight of Qrow Branwen, the 'Q' of team STRQ.

Qrow ran through the foliage in search of Summer, he prayed to whatever deity is out there for her to be safe. He stopped when he was met with the sight of Summer's cloak in the middle of a forest clearing, torn and drenched in blood. He knelt down in front of it and picked it up, his hands were shaking like a leaf. Fearing for the worst, he cradled the cloak close to his chest as he cried. Let it be known that this was one of the very few times Qrow Branwen was seen in a moment of weakness.

Zwolf felt sorry for him, truly he did, he didn't want it to be like this. Oh how he wanted to let Summer free of her bindings so she can run out there to comfort him, but this has to be done. He only hoped that this is one of the very few times he will hurt his friends, or more preferably the last.

It was a good five minutes before Qrow stopped crying and stood up, tears still streaming down his face. Zwolf could see the look of anger in his eyes, he knew it all too well. He had the same look when Sylvia died after all. As Qrow left, he released Summer as she fell to the ground, who stayed simply looked at the ground as she cried too.

"I know that you treated me and my team. Me and Qrow especially, as your friends. I know for a fact that you would much rather die than hurt friend." She sobbed in between her words before looking up at him. "So tell me, is what we're going to do that important that you would discard the very principle you've lived by your whole life?" he could tell she was furious, though she desperately tried to hold them in, if only barely.

"Yes. You know very well I would rather kill myself than hurt my friends, and that I would sacrifice myself just so they could live to see another day." He didn't even try to look at her, his mind was still fixated on the scene that had just unfolded in front of them.

"You said I would've been dead right? If you hadn't come I would've died anyway? What happens to me, to us after all of this is finished?" Her question was answered by a voice I've known for the past 13 years.

"Then you will move on to the afterlife as you should have been." Came the voice of god as he walked through one of his portals. "But I will let you say goodbye to your loved ones first before you go. Your bodies will turn to stone, so it won't be painless, just numb." He opens another portal. "Now, I think you have two more people to recruit." Summer wiped her tears from her face.

"Are all of the people we recruit on the verge of death? And how many of us will there be?"

"Sadly, you two are the only ones who are already deceased in your would-be group of ten. I know this is a bit hard for you two, but the reason you two are a part of this is because I knew you two will give your lives just so your loved ones could live. So please, just bear with the pain, and it'll be over much quicker." Summer only stood there in silence when Zwolf placed his hands on her shoulder.

"Come on Summer, the faster we do this. The faster you can see Qrow and your family again to apologize." She nodded before we walk through the portal.

There were many things plaguing Zwolf and Summer's mind right now, but only one thing stands out from the rest.

" _Will all recruitments end like this_?"


End file.
